I'm a fair-weather sea swimmer. Lucky enough to live in cycling distance of the sea, I avail of its free membership for 6 months of the year. It's free for the other 6 months too, though less enticing. Every summer I dip, swim, float and bathe in the turquoise waters around my local Martello tower. …
Being a bear of very little brain, there are many things I don't understand. I have no idea, for example, how any of the appliances I reply on every day work. I also don't have a great deal of curiosity in these matters. Many years ago, in an attempt to discover what my skills were …
I would be ashamed to admit how heavily I lean on the crutch of TV to get me through the winter months. Last August, I retook my seat on the couch to welcome 12 keen bakers into my life. From there it has been a slippery slope of hopeful business apprentices, celebrities living off rice …
Two projects stand out from my primary school days. One, I went to great lengths detailing the lives of the Aztecs and the Incas. I know that back then I could have bored you rigid with facts on these ancient civilisations, but today I am struggling to remember a single thing about them. However, the …
Continue reading "A Love Letter To Stillorgan Shopping Centre"
Mother's Day is always a strange one for me. This was the 26th year that I had no need to visit card shops looking for the perfect message to let my mother know how much I love her. We operate a more eco-friendly communication these days. I visit her through recreating her recipes, or telling …
There now follows an apology on behalf of the author. I would like to distance myself from remarks I may have made in the past, which suggested that running was ridiculous, unnatural and dull. As a lifetime devotee of the simple walk, it's possible I viewed this speeded up version as an abomination, a shameful …
History is repeating itself at an alarming rate in my life these days. It seems only the other day I was the green jumper wearing student who was wrestling with Shakespeare. I blink and suddenly there's a girl sitting at my kitchen table wearing the same green jumper trying to fathom his cryptic code. Not …
I wasn’t always a proud Dub. Holidays to my parent’s homeplaces of Thurles and Rathdowney, left me in no doubt that I was living in a lesser place. The uncles of both kingdoms never ceased to be amazed that children could be reared in Dirty Dublin. ‘Sure, ye don’t know what fresh air is at …
It’s that time of year when my internal voices meet up for their Annual General Meeting and wreck my head. The head of the ‘good girl’ department tells me it’s time for purification, to repent and prepare. The mistress of slimness tells me it’s time to cop on and finally make this the year, I …
By far the most embarrassing aspect of having a crippled mother was having to go shopping for special occasions with whoever she could find to take me. My confirmation shoes were bought on a cringy expedition with a couple up the road who I was so awkward with, I took the first pair I tried …
Ordinary Plenty 